Each Spring my father would recite the following piece of doggerel - which may have been created by Ogden Nash, or perhaps by ee Cummings.
He got a lot of fun out of it regardless of who wrote it, and it is one of those small things which trigger memories of him each year. And this is a better memory than some.
Spring has certainly sprung here - and has more springing to do. Late daffodils, iris (dutch and bearded), many more tulips, magnolia and blossom trees still to come. Wonderful.
Spring has sprung
The grass is riz
I wonder where them birdies is?
The bird is on the wing
That's absurd
The wing is on the bird.
He got a lot of fun out of it regardless of who wrote it, and it is one of those small things which trigger memories of him each year. And this is a better memory than some.
Spring has certainly sprung here - and has more springing to do. Late daffodils, iris (dutch and bearded), many more tulips, magnolia and blossom trees still to come. Wonderful.
Ahhh! Every Spring(and Autumn) I say that I miss the sharply defined seasons up here.Thank you.
ReplyDeletedinahmow: Sharply defined seasons are wonderful. I love them - except summer.
DeleteYou certainly are getting your share of spring blooms. The violets are my favorite.
ReplyDeleteJoanne Noragon: More to come yet - but the violets are a joy - and have self seeded themselves in most of our garden beds now.
DeleteBeautiful flowers! Thank you for sharing all the pictures. I find it so interesting that your country is beginning its spring season, while ours is beginning its autumn!
ReplyDeleteBECKY: Spring and Autumn are two of my favourite seasons. I quite like Winter as well.
DeleteOther side of the world, but we share many of the same spring flowers - of course, at different times.
ReplyDeleteStarting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe: I suspect we share many spring flowers because they are exotic species to both of our gardens. I am planting more and more natives as time goes by...
DeleteYour photos are amazing! Spring there, hot autumn here. I'll trade you!
ReplyDeleteSusan Kane: I will certainly trade your winter for our summer.
Deleteso THAT'S where Spring has gone!
ReplyDeleteSay, are Jazz & Jewel Burmese sweeties? Drop me a line and tell me, dear
Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
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Cloudia: Spring is certainly here. Jazz n Jewel are black moggies. No pedigree on either side. And much loved rescue cats.
DeleteLovely, lovely spring flowers! You are obviously enjoying them - so many beautiful daffs (my mother's word)
ReplyDelete:)
Alexia: My mother called them daffs as well - and yes I do love the riot of colour in the garden.
DeleteSpring has certainly sprung at your place with a riot of colour.
ReplyDeleteWindsmoke: All that work was worthwhile - the pain is a distant memory and the blooms are here.
DeleteBEAUTIFUL! I love spring flowers!
ReplyDeleteTeresa: I do as well.
DeleteI'm so glad we get to experience your spring flowers while our autumn is beginning in a few days. Lovely lovely flowers. My mother used to quote that poem with a slight variation.
ReplyDeleteLynn: Autumn is as spectacular in a (mostly) more subtle way.
DeleteLovely post. We, too, are seeing signs of spring... trouble is, it should be autumn! Thanks for this.
ReplyDeleteDave King: The seasons are a bit all over the place aren't they. I am hoping that summer delays itself though...
DeleteSuch beautiful flowers. How I miss having lots of space and many plants. Perhaps one day this will happen. Just planted two small azaleas bought from Woolies, but my kaffir lime is sick.
ReplyDeleteYou made me look at my copy of Ogden Nash. I could not find the spring is come the grass is riz, but had quite an agreeable time meandering through the book. It is dated, but still strikes the right chord from time to time. My recollection is that the boids were on the wing.
persiflage: Azaleas are something I have a brown thumb for. I love them, but cannot keep them alive and have, reluctantly, stopped buying them.
DeleteSometimes father did talk of 'boids' and 'absoid'. It changed with the season.
Spring is sprung
ReplyDeleteThe grass is riz
I wonder where the birdies iz?
In the oven
Roasting nicely.
That's how it usually went in our house.
Love your daffodils and those camellias are absolutely gorgeous.
River: That is a version I never heard - and my father would have loved it.
DeleteI was taught a slightly different version...
ReplyDeleteSpring has sprung
The grass has riz
I wonder where
The birdiesw is?
Look up there
Up in the sky,
Look out,
You'll get it
In the eye.
mybabyjohn/Delores: Another version I didn't hear. It was obviously quite well known. The skinny portion didn't get it in any form though.
DeleteI love your spring flower pictures! It sure is nice to have a talented photographer friend Down Under, so I can remember that spring is happening somewhere as we approach our shorter daytime period. Beautiful and very uplifting.
ReplyDeleteDJan: I feel the same way about your snow capped peaks - a joy every time. And your hills covered in wild flowers...
DeleteSuch a different world down under. We're starting to see the leaves change colors now since it's autumn here. I absolutely loved that little poem your dad would recite. Very cute and sweet. :)
ReplyDeleteDeb: Thank you.
DeleteSo beautiful those flowers! Love them!
ReplyDeleteStrayer: I enjoy them every year - thanks.
DeleteWonderfully cheerful blooms! Hurray for spring.
ReplyDeleteladyfi: All that colour is cheerful isn't it?
DeleteGorgeous pictures! It's (hopefully) going to be fall here soon...it's supposed to be 90F today.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Odgen Nash rhyme: "The cow is one of bovine ilk. One end is moo, the other, milk."
Riot Kitty: 90F? Shudder. I LOVED your Ogden Nash rhyme. Thank you.
DeleteHahahaha, brilliant, my dad always sang;
ReplyDelete" Spring is here,
The Grass is griz,
I wonder where'
Da birdeez is?!"
Snap. Heh, lovely pics :D x
All Consuming: It seems that many fathers promoted this verse - or their own version of same. A bit like Chinese Whispers which we played at school where person the first whispers something to the person next to them, who repeats what they have heard, round a circle. The final person says out loud what they have heard. Always quite different. And of course it would not, could not be called Chinese Whispers any more. 'Wot I heard' perhaps.
DeleteOK . . .
ReplyDeleteSpring has sprung,
The grass is riz
I wonder where them Parrots is?
Magpies? Silvereyes? Corellas and Galahs?
In EC's garden, admiring the flowers!
That's me done for today, well, it is past midnight. Thinking of you x x
bugerlugs63: Sadly not only do many of them look at the flowers they sample them as well. The king parrots are very partial to plump camellia buds. The cockatoos like daffodils and tulips. And the list goes on. Sleep well.
DeleteGreetings,
ReplyDeleteYes, it's me, Penny the Jack Russell dog and modest internet star! Oh please say hello to Jazz and Jewel :)
Anyhow, great to see spring flowers down where you live. Excellent photos and I'd forgotten what flowers looked like.
In Britain were waiting for last spring to spring.
Never mind, we can always sing.
Sing as I play in autumn leaves
And watch them swirl in a chilly breeze.
Pawsitive wishes and doggy kisses, Penny xx
klahanie: Poetry! Of your own creation! We are honoured. Thank you.
DeleteYou have the most amazing garden! I'm jealous of all the color you get to enjoy. Around here it's finally cooled off and I'm looking forward to fall - probably almost as much as you are your approaching spring/summer. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteRon Dudley: Blood, sweat and tears goes into the garden. Fortunately by the time things bloom the pain is but a memory. However I am not looking forward to Summer. In fact I become a bit of a troll in the hotter months and only emerge at night.
DeleteAnd here we are finally sliding into an Indian Summer..
ReplyDeleteVery nice photos! We manage to grow daffodils and that's about it.
Visiting from Gary and Penny's site. Or is it just Penny's site now?
Alex J. Cavanaugh: Welcome. I think that Gary and Penny share ownership and each put posts up while the other sleeps. I shudder to think what Jazz n Jewel could do...
Deletepretty flowers
ReplyDeleteAdam: Thank you.
DeleteEasily could have been either Nash or Cummings. Are all those flowers from your neighborhood?
ReplyDeleteJohn Wiswell: My father was very partial to Nash so I am leaning that way, but as you say it could have been either. Not only are they flowers from our neighbourhood they are flowers from our garden.
DeleteBeautiful flowers - how you must be enjoying them! I remember when you were planting them. Doesn't seem that long ago. Your hard work really paid off. Thanks for sharing them - they're gorgeous.
ReplyDeletejenny_o: It is rewards like these blooms which make me forget (every year) that I am really not up to the necessary work. And then somehow I am.
Delete"Oh see the lovely daffodils..." I can't get enough of looking at these pix. Lovely, beautiful, hopeful, happy. Thanks, EC.
ReplyDeleteAustan: Lovely, beautiful, hopeful and happy is a wonderful way to describe spring blooms. Thank you.
Deletewhat an incredible explosion of color and beauty...oh how I wish spring was here again defying all natural order :).
ReplyDeleteunikorna: Autumn/fall is pretty special as well.
DeleteOh what beautiful pictures. I think I saw a peony among the flowers and unfortunately it is too hot to grow them in Perth. I saw some in NZ back in the 1980s and it was my English hubby who had to tell me what they were. We have wattle in full bloom here and hundreds of freesias growing wild on the nature reserves on the sides of a nearby major road. I think in Perth it is more the bottlebrush and native bushes beginning to flower that denotes spring. Probably in the southern parts of our state you would see the daffods earlier and in more abundance. Once again, thanks for sharing. xxx
ReplyDeleteMimsie: Peonies are something I have not really succeeded in growing yet. I will keep trying though. Wild freesias by the hundreds would be wonderful.
DeleteP.S. Just to add to your little poem, I also remember this one in the same ilk.
ReplyDeleteThe elephant is a dainty bird that flits from bough to bough
It lays it's eggs in a peanut shell and whistles like a cow"
Do you remember that one too perhaps? I love crazy poetry like that.
Mimsie: I remember that slander on elephants too :)
DeleteOne of my favourites in that vein is one by Spike Milligan.
'There are holes in the sky where the rain gets in,
but they're ever so small.
That's why rain's thin.'
That's a new one to me but just so very Spike Milligan. MOH has a couple of his books with silly verse and some of it is hilarious.
DeleteMimsie: I have a book of nonsense verse and a lot of the better ones are Spike's creations.
DeleteAs you watch the unfolding of spring, I am watching the ending of summer and a slow beginning to fall. Not something you think about ... that we are on opposite sides of the world. Your flowers are magnificent ... are they all in your yard? Keep posting about your spring and the warmth of your summer, as it will help me get through the cold days of winter. Love this post ...
ReplyDeleteAndrea @ From the Sol
Andrea: I think it is one of the joys of the blogosphere that we can find whatever season we crave. You will not get positive posts about summer heat from me - unless it doesn't happen. Not a fan. The flowers are indeed all in my overgrown jungle. And more come out each day. Joy.
DeleteOh, how wonderful. LOVE that poem.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, UP HERE, the greens ain't so green and the golds and russets and reds are on their way. We are moments away, my friend, from heaps of snow being dropped on our heads.
And me? I'm wearing socks today for the first time since May. Can my old/new sweaters be far behind?
:-)
Pearl
Pearl: Autumn/fall is a thing of beauty. And perhaps because I have never had it, I am jealous of your snow. The only reasonable fall (a couple of inches) we have had here was over forty years ago I think.
DeleteI remember hearing that poem when I was growing up, too. Spring is certainly lovely near you!
ReplyDeleteEmily Sovich: Welcome and thank you.
Deleteoh SNAP! and 68 comments so you don't need mine.
ReplyDeleteLet us spare a thought for Queenslanders whose warm gardens are denied the thrill of cold-loving daffs.
When I first read that rhyme it was New Joisey accented -
'da liddle boids iz on da wing?
don be absoid - da liddle wings iz on da boid.'
Ann O'Dyne: Comments from you are always more than welcome. And yes, my father did do the Noo Joisey accent from time to time. Mostly not though.
DeleteI have a thing about elephants and so had to come and visit and then when I saw your father's spring verse I knew I had to follow. If you visit my kangaroosof facebook page you'll see that verse there for the 1st day of spring. Love the beautiful photos and look forward to more.
ReplyDeleteCheryl: Thank you very much. There are likely to be rather a lot of spring photos. You have been warned.
DeleteLovely. Enjoy your spring. Mine too. I thought the rhyme was Odgen Nash but I am an imperfect witness.
ReplyDeleteJ Cosmo Newberry: Thank you. I would have guessed Nash but...
DeleteSpring is full of color. It's vibrant colors add beauty to the world. The flowers you have shared all look pretty and gorgeous. Ahh... we don't have spring here but thanks for sharing and letting me experience it too :)
ReplyDeleteFarida: Welcome and thank you.
DeleteI love them all but the daffodils bring back such wonderful memories from my past.
ReplyDeleteBe well and happy :)
Pam:): Daffodils seem to epitomise the sun don't they?
DeleteDear EC, so much loveliness in tulip, jonquil, daffodil, peony, hyacinth, and all the other flowers that are blooming in your post. Are these in your yard?
ReplyDeleteYears ago while in college I wrote a column for the bi-weekly newspaper and paraphrased the poem your dad always said. "Spring has sprung/the grass has riz/ I wonder where my diamond is?" That was because so many of my college friends were getting diamond rings at the time! Peace.
Dee: Thank you. They are indeed all in our yard, though the peonies are camellias. There is more coming out each day which makes my daily meanders outside exciting.
DeleteI have never been a big diamond fan - which is probably just as well as I don't have any.
Mom sang the same little ditty to us as children! A happy memory! As we melt into autumn, it's fun to see spring flowers from the other half of the world!
ReplyDeletedaisyfae: Though Autumn is pretty special as well.
DeleteThe sight of these beautiful,happy,hope filled Spring flowers with this jolly little rhyme makes me wish I was in the Southern hemisphere right now!
ReplyDeletethe cuby poet: Please feel welcome to share ours. It is rocketing past.
DeleteI googled your poem, and it looks like it might be anonymous. Gosh, but I wish it were spring here, but, alas, that season is long gone.
ReplyDeletesnowbrush: A very well known anonymous if it is - so many people across the world have heard it or variations on it. I am intrigued that you are longing for spring, and find myself wondering why. Not a fan of winter?
Delete--Is this your garden? WO0000W. Like Heaven.
ReplyDeleteHow are you? How are your panthers? Life? XXx
My Inner Chick: It is a part of the garden. The jungle? More comes out each day and it makes me forget (almost) the blood, sweat and tears which went into planting the bulbs (not to mention weeding).
DeleteThe black beasts are fine and I am fine(ish). How are things in your world?
it never seize to amaze me that when we say goodbye to summer here spring springs on the other side of the planet... it looks fantastic!
ReplyDeletePia K: Spring has sprung here. Summer looms.
DeleteMy,oh my, all these could easily have been taken in my garden on Mt.Lofty, although the magnolia is flowering there but the camellias will come a little later. After all, we are at just over 700m.
ReplyDeleteYou do have a beautiful garden!
Arija: Thank you. As you know, there is blood sweat and tears involved. Luckily the flowers bloom when the pain is just a memory. We have a magnolia (evergreen) that the galahs strip each year. It has never flowered. We have another, planted last year, with swelling buds for which we have high hopes.
Delete